A 47-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly paying two Nigerians to murder Bulls and Bok Sevens player Deon Helberg.

According to the Pretoria News, Manda Reyneke is alleged to have hatched her plan four months ago after Helberg allegedly spurned her advances when she tried to rekindle their romance.

Helberg, 21, ended their two-year relationship in August last year – apparently after his girlfriend discovered that he was sexually involved with her mother.

Beeld reports that the two men sent a photo of Helberg, lying in his driveway with fake blood on his chest and neck to Reyneke, who replied: ‘Job well done, see you tomorrow’.

Reyneke was taken into custody outside the Atterbury Value Mart in Pretoria on Thursday shortly after handing over R10,000 to the two Nigerians.

According to one of them, she said she would buy each of them a house and pay them R10,000 a month for a year after the murder. She had also given them R30 000 to buy the weapons, ammunition and other equipment needed to commit the crime. They had then gone to the police, who had decided to stage the ‘murder’ of Helberg.

Helberg’s uncle, Johan Lourens, told Beeld that Reyneke – who is believed to be in the process of separating from her husband, Dave, a prominent Pretoria doctor – had threatened to kill Helberg two years ago and that he had gone through hell since then, wondering every day if this would be the day he was going to be murdered.